Contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration during non-growing season in mine reclaimed soil with different covering-soil thicknesses

An accurate assessment of root respiration in mine reclaimed soil is important for effectively evaluating mining area ecosystems.This study investigated dynamic changes in root respiration and the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration(R_(r)/R_(t) ratio)during the non-growing season in mine reclaimed soil,with different covering-soil thicknesses.According to the covering-soil thicknesses,the study area was divided into four sites:10-25 cm(site A),25-45 cm(site B),45-55 cm(site C),and 55-65 cm(site D).From November 2017 to April 2018(except February in 2018),the soil respiration,root respiration,temperature at 5 cm,water content,and root biomass were measured.The results show that soil temperature and root respiration exhibited similar diurnal and monthly variations.The root respiration is strongly influenced by soil temperature during the non-growing season,with an exponential and positive relationship(P<0.001).Root respiration varies with the covering-soil thickness and is greatest with a covering-soil thickness of 25-45 cm.The R_(r)/R_(t) ratio also exhibits monthly variations.During the non-growing season,the mean value of the R_(r)/R_(t) ratio is 51.15%in mine reclaimed soil.The study indicates that root respiration is the primary source of soil respiration and is an important factor for estimating the potential emission of soil CO_(2) from mine reclaimed soil at the regional scale.

Contribution of Root Respiration to Total Soil Respiration in a Leymus chinensis （Trin.） Tzvel, Grassland of Northeast China

The loss of carbon through root respiration Is an Important component of grassland carbon budgets. However, few data are available concerning the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration in grasslands in China. We Investigated seasonal variations of soil respiration rate, root blomaaa, microbial blomaaa C and organic C content of the soil In a semi-arid Leymus chinensis （Trin.） Tzvel. grassland of northeast China during the 2002 growing season （from May to September）. The linear regression relationship between soil respiration rate and root blomaaa was used to determine the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration. Soil respiration rate ranged from 2.5 to 11.9 g C/m^2 per d with the maximum in late June and minimum In September. The microbial blomaaa C and organic C content of the soil ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 g C/m^2 and from 29 to 34 g C/kg respectively. Root blomaaa had two peaks, In early June （1.80 kg/m^2） and mid-August （1.73 kg/m^2）. Root respiration rate peaked In mid-August （6.26 g C/m^2 per d）, whereas microbial respiration rate peaked In late June （7.43 g C/m^2 per d）. We estimated that the contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration during the growing season ranged from 38% to 76%.

Adjustment of Forest Ecosystem Root Respiration as Temperature Warms

Adjustment of ecosystem root respiration to warmer climatic conditions can alter the autotrophic portion of soil respiration and influence the amount of carbon available for biomass production. We examined 44 published values of annual forest root respiration and found an increase in ecosystem root respiration with increasing mean annual temperature （MAT）, but the rate of this cross-ecosystem increase （Q10 = 1.6） is less than published values for short-term responses of root respiration to temperature within ecosystems （Q10 = 2-3）. When specific root respiration rates and root biomass values were examined, there was a clear trend for decreasing root metabolic capacity （respiration rate at a standard temperature） with increasing MAT. There also were tradeoffs between root metabolic capacity and root system biomass, such that there were no instances of high growing season respiration rates and high root biomass occurring together. We also examined specific root respiration rates at three soil warming experiments at Harvard Forest, USA, and found decreases in metabolic capacity for roots from the heated plots. This decline could be due to either physiological acclimation or to the effects of co-occurring drier soils on the measurement date. Regardless of the cause, these findings clearly suggest that modeling efforts that allow root respiration to increase exponentially with temperature, with Q10 values of 2 or more, may over-predict root contributions to ecosystem CO2 efflux for future climates and underestimate the amount of C available for other uses, including net primary productivity.

Three-source partitioning of soil respiration by ^(13)C natural abundance and its variation with soil depth in a plantation

Partitioning soil respiration into three components is vital to identify CO_2 sink or source and can help us better understand soil carbon dynamics. However, knowledge about the influences of soil depth and the priming effect on soil respiration components under field has been limited. Three components of soil respiration（root respiration, rhizomicrobial respiration and basal respiration） in a plantation in the hilly area of the North China were separated by the 13 C natural abundance method. The results showed that the average proportions of rhizomicrobial respiration, root respiration and basal respiration at the 25-65 cm depths were about 14, 23 and 63 %, respectively. Three components of soil respiration varied with soil depth, and root respiration was the main component of soil respiration in deeper soil. The priming effect was obvious for the deep soil respiration, especially at the 40-50 cm depth. Thus, depth and priming effect should be taken into account to increase the accuracy of estimations of soil carbon flux.

Advances on the Responses of Root Dynamics to Increased Atmospheric CO_(2) and Global Climate Change

Plant roots dynamics responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, increased temperature and changed precipitation can be a key link between plant growth and long-term changes in soil organic matter and ecosystem carbon balance. This paper reviews some experiments and hypotheses developed in this area, which mainly include plant fine roots growth, root turnover, root respiration and other root dynamics responses to elevated CO2 and global climate change. Some recent new methods of studying root systems were also discussed and summarized. It holds herein that the assemblage of information about root turnover patterns, root respiration and other dynamic responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 and global climatic change can help to better understand and explore some new research areas. In this paper, some research challenges in the plant root responses to the elevated CO2 and other environmental factors during global climate change were also demonstrated.

Intensive management enhances mycorrhizal respiration but decreases free-living microbial respiration by affecting microbial abundance and community structure in Moso bamboo forest soils

Intensive management is known to markedly alter soil carbon(C)storage and turnover in Moso bamboo forests compared with extensive management.However,the effects of intensive management on soil respiration(RS)components remain unclear.This study aimed to evaluate the changes in different RScomponents(root,mycorrhizal,and free-living microorganism respiration)in Moso bamboo forests under extensive and intensive management practices.A1-year in-situ microcosm experiment was conducted to quantify the RScomponents in Moso bamboo forests under the two management practices using mesh screens of varying sizes.The results showed that the total RSand its components exhibited similar seasonal variability between the two management practices.Compared with extensive management,intensive management significantly increased cumulative respiration from mycorrhizal fungi by 36.73%,while decreased cumulative respiration from free-living soil microorganisms by 8.97%.Moreover,the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF)increased by 43.38%,but bacterial and fungal abundances decreased by 21.65%and 33.30%,respectively,under intensive management.Both management practices significantly changed the bacterial community composition,which could be mainly explained by soil pH and available potassium.Mycorrhizal fungi and intensive management affected the interrelationships between bacterial members.Structural equation modeling indicated that intensive management changed the cumulative RSby elevating AMF abundance and lowering bacterial abundance.We concluded that intensive management reduced the microbial respiration-derived C loss,but increased mycorrhizal respiration-derived C loss.

Variations of root and heterotrophic respiration along environmental gradients in China’s forests

Aims Root and heterotrophic respiration may respond differently to environmental variability,but little evidence is available from largescale observations.Here we aimed to examine variations of root and heterotrophic respiration across broad geographic,climatic,soil and biotic gradients.Methods We conducted a synthesis of 59 field measurements on root and heterotrophic respiration across China’s forests.Important Findings Root and heterotrophic respiration varied differently with forest types,of which evergreen broadleaf forest was significantly different from those in other forest types on heterotrophic respiration but without statistically significant differences on root respiration.The results also indicated that root and heterotrophic respiration exhibited similar trends along gradients of precipitation,soil organic carbon and satellite-indicated vegetation growth.However,they exhibited different relationships with temperature:root respiration exhibited bimodal patterns along the temperature gradient,while heterotrophic respiration increased monotonically with temperature.Moreover,they showed different relationships with MOD17 GPP,with increasing trend observed for root respiration whereas insignificant change for heterotrophic respiration.In addition,root and heterotrophic respiration exhibited different changes along the age sequence,with insignificant change for root respiration and decreasing trend for heterotrophic respiration.Overall,these results suggest that root and heterotrophic respiration may respond differently to environmental variability.Our findings could advance our understanding on the different environmental controls of root and heterotrophic respiration and also improve our ability to predict soil CO_(2) flux under a changing environment.